Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5 a prior art female electrical connector is depicted, which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,957, issued on Jul. 7, 1998 to Fink et al, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This patent describes a female connector 15 and a male connector 20 which are mutually mated via sliding movement of a slide assist cover 12.
The general structural details are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,957 and need not be recounted in detail herein. However, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, an overall description of the electrical connectors will be derived therefrom (see generally Column 3, line 41 through Column 4, line 16).
To mutually mate female and male connectors 15 and 20, a U-shaped slide 14 is first snapped into position into the slide assist cover 12. A connector position assurance (CPA) component 10 is also snapped in place in a CPA holder 60 molded on the exterior of the slide assist cover 12. With the slide 14, CPA component 10 and the slide assist cover 12 so assembled, the slide is inserted into slots 62 and 64 in an outer housing 28 from the end 66 thereof, and then slid in place until the front surface 68 of the slide assist cover 12 bumps against the front of a CPA lock feature 70, located on a cantilever arm 72 on the top of a wire shroud 18. In this position, the male connector 20 is ready to be mated to the female connector 15, wherein four slot inlets of the slide 14 are aligned with four slots of the outer housing. The slide assist cover 12 is now at its prestaged position relative to the outer housing 28 and the wire shroud 18.
The male connector 20 is then aligned so that the tabs 4, 6, 8 and 11 enter the slots, beginning engagement of the male terminals 22 to the female terminals 40. Force is then applied on the assist cover 12 to move the slide more into the outer housing 28. Deflection of the cantilever arm 72 is necessary to allow the front surface 68 past the CPA lock feature 70. Through the resulting motion, four inner slot ramps of, respectively, the slot inlets of the slide 14 act on the tabs 4, 6, 8, and 11, forcing the male connector into full engagement with the female connector. The slide assist cover 12 is now at its staged position relative to the outer housing 28 and the wire shroud 18.
During this process, the CPA lock feature 70 is forced underneath the side 82 of the slide assist cover 12 through cantilevering action of cantilever arm 72. The male/female connectors 20 and 15 are not fully engaged until the CPA lock feature 70 pops into an opening 84 in the slide assist cover 12, wherein a locking port 75 thereof is aligned with the slide axis of the CPA component 10. Once in this position the CPA component 10 can be slid forward from its engagement position in the CPA holder 60 to a snap-lock position in the locking port 75 of the CPA lock feature 70, whereat the CPA component is also lodged in a docking port 85 (see FIG. 3) of a CPA docking feature 86 of the side 82 of the slide assist cover 12.
If the CPA component 10 cannot be slid forward and snap into the snap-lock position in the CPA lock feature 70, then the male and female connectors 20, 15 are not completely mutually engaged. Once the CPA component 10 is slid and locked into position in the CPA lock feature, the male and female terminals are in contact and the male and female connectors are locked in place. The male and female connectors will remain locked in place and cannot be disengaged from each other until the CPA component 10 is slid out from the CPA lock feature 70.
FIGS. 3 and 4 depict the functioning of the CPA component 10 to assure connector assurance when it is slid from its prestaged position, shown at FIG. 3, to its staged position, shown at FIG. 4.
As shown at FIG. 3, the CPA component 10 has a pair of opposed CPA bosses 24 which are received into respective CPA indents 30 of the CPA holder 60. The slide assist cover 12 is shown fully slid into final position as shown at FIG. 2, wherein the CPA lock feature 70 is received up into the opening 84. The CPA component 10 is at its prestaged position.
Now, as shown at FIG. 4, the CPA component 10 has been slid through the locking port 75 of the CPA lock feature 70 and partly into the docking port 85 of the CPA docking feature 86. The CPA component 10 is locked in the staged position via the CPA bosses 24 interferingly abutting respective CPA bossments 26 of the CPA lock feature 70.
While the function of the connector 15 is very admirable, it suffers from the possibility of the CPA component 10 becoming separated from the slide assist cover 12 when the CPA component 10 is prestaged at the CPA holder 60 and the slide assist cover is at its prestaged position, as shown at FIG. 1. This untoward situation is depicted at FIG. 5, wherein the CPA component 10 has been dislodged from the CPA holder 60. Because only the opening 84 is adjacent the CPA holder 60 (the CPA lock feature 70 being absent from the opening), the CPA component 10 can fall free of the female connector 15.
Accordingly, what is needed is to prevent the CPA component from being separated from the female component.